A unique open-air exhibition space for public photography
On October 24, 2011, a photography competition was launched to solicit mobile phone photographs for a brand new public exhibition space called The Vertical Gallery, located in London’s uber-trendy Shoreditch and Hoxton – the gateway to the London Olympics.
The Gallery
The new gallery is the latest incarnation of Lottolab’s Beacon, a six-metre tall light installation commissioned by the Shoreditch Trust and TfL and designed and built by Beau Lotto in 2008. It has been a landmark at the junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street ever since.
Lottolab, in collaboration with long-standing Shoreditch-based designer Paul Daly, is transforming the Beacon into London’s first public gallery designed to exhibit photographic images that are by the public, of the public and for the public. As Dr. Beau Lotto, Director of Lottolab, explains:
‘What we think, believe and even see is shaped by our environment. Our communities are a critical aspect of that environment, not only as potential sources of well-being (as well as disillusionment), but also as reflections of ourselves. By displaying moments in time of the Shoreditch and Hoxton area, the Vertical Gallery will offer the opportunity for people to mirror to themselves and to everyone else the true meaning of their community. The installation is itself another ‘Street Science’ project where we attempt to blur boundaries – in this case between public and private, science and art.’ 
The Vertical Gallery will exhibit 16 original black-and-white images, each of which will be mounted onto 1.2m x 1m Plexiglass sheets that will be visible during the day by natural light and at night from the tower’s internal lighting.
The Competition
For three weeks from October 24th to November 18th 2011 , Lottolab will be soliciting images for the first exhibition via a photographic competition. ANYONE can submit images, but all images must be in black and white and of the Shoreditch and Hoxton areas, and must be taken by mobile phone – in order to increase accessibility, and to explore the phone as a medium for artistic exploration and creation. The competition will be advertised via Lottolab’s website, as well as Twitter and Facebook. Images can be emailed directly to Beau Lotto at beau@lottolab.org.
A team of experts and novices, adults and children will select their favourite 16 images from all those submitted. In the spirit of the experiment, there will be a public opening of the first exhibition on Old Street at the end of November, hosted by Lottolab and the RoadTrip Bar, adjacent to the Vertical Gallery.
The larger ambition is to not only exhibit a new set of images every six to twelve months, but to create multiple towers around London by 2012, each celebrating the local areas that make up the larger context of London.
Lottolab Studio
Lottolab, which is funding the Vertical Gallery, is an innovative research space that creates installations, stages musical performances, runs educational programmes and performs carefully controlled experiments on perception and behaviour. It is led by Dr. Beau Lotto, a neuroscientist at UCL’s Institute of Opthalmology. Beau is currently developing a ‘live lab’ at London’s Science Museum, enabling the public, including schoolchildren, to participate in, design and run real science experiments that explore the nature of perception.
Further Information
Lottolab Studio: www.lottolab.org
Paul Daly www.pauldaly.com
RoadTrip Bar www.roadtripbar.com